Sam Colquhoun’s knee injury sours Port Adelaide’s 58-point win over West Adelaide

A SERIOUS knee injury to Sam Colquhoun took some of the gloss off another powerful Port Adelaide win at Alberton on Saturday.

Port Adelaide key forward bagged five goals in the second half. Picture: Tom Huntley.

A POTENTIALLY serious knee injury to Sam Colquhoun in time-on of the final term took some of the gloss off another powerful Port Adelaide win at Alberton on Saturday.

Colquhoun, who was among Port’s best players, was pushed as he kicked in a relatively innocuous incident but appeared to jolt his knee as he fell.

Port won the match 21.8 (134) to 10.10 (76) to extend its winning run to three and move to second on the table, albeit Sturt can move back past them with a win on Sunday.

Colquhoun was stretchered off the ground and will undergo scans this week.

“Any time someone comes off the ground on a stretcher there’s some concern,’’ Port coach Garry Hocking said.

“We’ll get some scans, see our doctors and in the next few days we’ll know more about it.

“He seemed to be putting some weight on it (the knee) but they won’t really be sure until they have a look.”

Port was denied top spot on the ladder by South Adelaide on Saturday but the nature of its performance against West suggested the Magpies may soon occupy the summit.

For a third week straight, its pressure and running power overwhelmed an opponent and helped it blow open a match in a short space of time.

On Saturday it was a seven-goal to nil third term which did the damage.

The Magpies were pushed and out played at times during the first half and held an eight-point lead at the long break.

But its hard-running midfield tore the contest apart in the third term, impressive given Port was coming off a five-day break compared to West’s nine.

Steve Summerton (39 disposals) was prolific, while Tom Logan and Ben Newton put together continued their consistent form.

West ran a hard tag on Kane Mitchell but the running-machine still managed 22 possessions and two goals.

John Butcher got on the end of the good work, bagging five second half goals.

Port’s ability to get a runner forward of the ball, its consistent honouring of short lead-up targets and its willingness to switch the ball coming out of defence are quickly becoming its hallmarks.

Hocking was pleased with his side’s workrate.

When asked about the growing murmurs in SANFL circles about the strength of his AFL reserves-based squad, he disputed their was a talent mismatch.

“(On) the myth of us being really strong, you don’t need talented players to work hard, and that’s been our motto,’’ he said.

“It may look a little bit different and people will have their opinion but our guys bring effort and a lot of our scores and our goals come off the back of our pressure.”

West remains winless four rounds into the season and continues to pay the price for fading out of matches.

Coach Mark Mickan questioned the will of his side, and pointed the finger generally at some of his senior players for yesterday’s third term.

“It’s very hard to explain the dramatic nature of the drop off in the third quarter,’’ he said.

“Why are we suddenly so much less competitive in the first 10 minutes of third term? We’ve just had a break.

“That can’t be a fitness thing.”

The Magpies kicked six goals to two in the opening term and their ability to transition play from defence to attack was a treat to watch at times.

The contest changed in the second term with West gaining the ascendancy around the stoppages, through the hardworking Ben Macreadie, and Travis Tuck.

Westies also exposed the Magpies for a lack of defensive running and were able to find loose players going forward.

But Port virtually killed the match off within 15 minutes of the half-time resumption and would kicked 13 of the first 15 second half goals.

PORT ADELAIDE 6.1 8.3 15.4 21.8 (134)

WEST ADELAIDE 2.4 6.6 6.9 11.10 (76)

BEST – Port: Logan, Summerton, Newton, Colquhoun, Moore, Mitchell. West: Milne, Tuck, Beech, Stevens, Still

GOALS – Port: Butcher 5, Newton 3, Hitchcock, Moore, Harvey, Mitchell 2, Haren, Bruggeman, Heath, Reneouf, Young. West: Still 4, Stevens, Newell 2, Silverlock, Beech, Fisher

Umpires: Burke, Crosby, Hosking

Injuries – Port: Colquhoun (knee). :